Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Delay - Circle Change LP

Salinas (2014)

I was so excited when I saw that Delay had a new record coming out. I've just loved the band since 2009's Plain Language. I got several records from the great Salinas records that order, but Delay was the first one I put down on the turntable. If you had told me prior to listening to it that it would end up being my least favorite of the bunch, I would have never believed you.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Circle Changes. It's not bad and nothing jumps out as being particularly cringeworthy. Its major crime is that it's just a slow, kind of boring record. Just about every song sounds like the intro of a great song that's about to kick in any minute. The problem is none of them ever kick in. They all just meander along with no sizzle. The only time on the whole record that they even slightly approach an upbeat tempo is on "Have My Back." It's pretty good, but honestly would have been just a background time filler track on any of their other records.

I guess you could say it's a more mature record. Perhaps it could also be considered to be taking things more seriously. But for me, what I liked about Delay was their youthful energy and the breakneck speed they plowed through their jangle-y pop songs. The jangle is still there, but the energy is just gone.